Fighting Phobia
by HopeSommelier
Summary: Touko's journey was nothing like she expected, debilitating panic attacks when she battles, and strange feelings when she's near the mysterious N. Together with her friends, Iris and Dento all three of them will face their fears and discover the legends of the world around them. Best Wishes AU that follows the plot of the BW games. Slight AtyourServiceShipping (DenTou)
1. Road to an Anxious State of Mind

Pidove flew through the crisp spring air, their feathers falling on the windowsill of a young girl's house with a flutter. She didn't mind though. Standing with her two best friends since birth she waved to the postman as he dropped off a box on the front door. Grabbing it she ran upstairs in a rush to her room, "Bianca! Cheren! It's here!" She set it down on the floor and got to work on styling her hair.

"Isn't this exciting!" The blonde haired bubbly girl bounced up and down giggling. "We get to have a Pokemon! We get to go on a journey!"

"Yes Bianca, we know." The more stoic male pushed his red glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "But remember this isn't all fun and games. We're doing this as a favor for Professor Juniper."

"Come on Cheren," she pouted turning on her heels full attention to her friend. "Be more enthusiastic."

"I am perfectly enthusiastic. There is being enthusiastic and then there is being too enthusiastic." Cheren didn't budge but anyone could see he was just as excited as his friend with the trembles his body gave off.

Back at her mirror Touko chuckled to herself as she worked with putting her long, wavy, thick brown hair into a ponytail. They'd had been like this for as long as she could remember. Like an old married couple.

"Well whatever!" She giggled and ran at the box containing the Pokémon. "I think that since it's Touko's house they were delivered to, she should get to pick first."

"Obviously."

"Uh guys. I'm right here you know." she sighed setting her brush down, the two would always get lost in their own little world, "You don't have to talk like I'm not."

"Oh Touko!" Bianca ran up ignoring her protests and pushed her to the neatly wrapped blue box, "Pick, pick!"

"Don't rush her Bianca." Cheren removed her hands from Touko's shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. "This is a very important decision. Touko. You know what your choices are correct?"

Nodding she listed them off, "Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott." She picked up all three balls and threw them with a small flick of the wrist. The three starter Pokemon appeared in a burst of blue light. A green snake like creature who seemed to be disinterested with everything, a cute little orange pig who looked at all three of them happily wagging its tail, and a little tiny otter who looked around nervously.

"They're all so cute!' Bianca squealed flailing her arms, "I can see how this is a hard decision…."

"Sha!" Bianca's loud voice scared the Oshawott as he ran forward hiding behind Touko's tiny desk and chair. His fur puffed out on all ends to make himself seem bigger as he tapped his shell.

Cheren frowned shaking his head, "Quiet down Bianca. You're scaring the Pokemon."

Touko felt sorry for the little otter and slowly walked over to her desk and knelt down on her knees as lightly as she could. "Hey it's okay." The brunette knelt down to the trembling Pokemon trying to calm him down, "I won't hurt you."

"Osha…" he looked up at her with wide eyes her face reflected in them. She held out her hand, this was the Pokemon she wanted, she had decided. Oshawott would be her partner.

Moving a little closer and smiling she whispered so she wouldn't startle him, "Would you like to go on a journey with me, Oshawott?"

"Osha?" He continued to stare at her as the whole room was silent. "Osha!" He had made his decision running to her and leaping into her arms, "Oshawo!"

Touko laughed and held him close petting him. She was glad that he seemed to be calmer as his fur fluffed down to its normal state, "I choose Oshawott." She walked over to her bed, grabbed her tote bag and slid her ponytail through her hat, making sure it was situated the way she liked it. "All right little guy, return." She held out her Pokeball but Oshawott slapped away with his shell.

"Osha!" He looked at his new trainer fearfully as the ball rolled across the floor stopping at Cheren's feet.

"Looks like he doesn't like the ball." Cheren picked up the fallen Pokeball from the ground and handed it to her. "It's very rare but I heard some Pokemon don't like being in them. Looks like your Oshawott is one of th-hey! Bianca!"

"Hmm?" All eyes were now on Bianca as she turned around hugging the Tepig its tail wagging back and forth happily, "What's wrong Cheren?"

"Who said you get to choose next-argh." He shook his head and picked up the ball off the grass type starter "Nevermind. I wanted Snivy anyway." The Snivy and he shared a mutual look as it returned it back to his Pokeball.

"Snivy is just like you Cheren!" Bianca giggled, "Hey Touko, we should have a Pokemon battle!"

"Now? In my room!?" Oshawott jumped onto her head and yawned. "I don't think he wants to…" She was relieved her Pokemon was too tired because truthfully she didn't want to battle right at this moment; she wanted to leave! Get out in the world and explore, she'd battle later but she was so antsy…

"Bianca the Pokemon would destroy the room. It's not a good idea."

Leave it to Cheren to come up with a logical reason not to do it. "I agree with Cheren so we should-"

"But they're still young. I think it would be fine." Bianca pouted clearly not pleased with being told no. "Hey Cheren, why don't you battle me?"

Cheren put a finger to his chin to ponder her suggestion.

Touko groaned she knew Cheren would never turn down a match, looks like she'd be here a little while longer.

"I guess you have a point. All right Bianca. Let's have a Pokemon battle."

Darnit. "Wait guys-"

"Go Tepig!" Bianca cheered. "We have the type advantage here. Use Ember!"

"Tepi?"

Cheren chuckled, "Tepig doesn't know ember yet. You need to raise him in order to do that." He smirked and adjusted his glasses, "But a beginner wouldn't know that. Snivy, show us your tackle."

"Cheren…" Touko sighed, he was too serious and harsh sometimes.

"Hey!" Bianca made a face, "That's mean Cheren…Dodge it Tepig!"

"Don't let it get away, tackle it!"

Snivy went after Tepig who ran out of the way his hooves sliding on the carpet. Snivy caught up and slammed his tail into Tepig who went flying into the large bookcase at the corner of the room. Touko gasped in horror as it wobbled back and forth. Please. Please don't fall.

"Tackle Tepig!"

"Dodge it!"

Tepig chased Snivy around ending up in front of the bookcase as it fell to the ground with a crash.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Snivy!"

"Tepig!"

The three leapt into action to remove the bookcase from the two. Oshawott even leapt off Touko's head and also attempted to push. When the bookcase was removed the two Pokemon lay unmoving with swirly eyes.

Cheren and Bianca both returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs. It was a tie.

"Oh no no no…" Touko muttered to herself, "If mom finds out…"

"Touko!" The young girl's mother had entered the room. With hands on her hips she looked around at the mess a book shelf on the floor with scattered books, marks all over the walls and floor, and clothes scattered every which way. To put it bluntly it looked like a hurricane had run through the room. She tapped her foot and gave her daughter a disapproving glare. "What in the world happened in here?!"

"Mom! I…uh…" Words had failed her at this moment, she glared at her two friends it was their fault after all.

She noticed the tiny hoof prints on the ground. "Did you have a Pokemon battle in here?!"

"I-"

Cheren stepped in front of his friend ready to take the blame, "It was Bianca and I. Touko has nothing to do with it."

"Yes!" Bianca chipped in, "Please don't punish Touko, we were the one's battling…"

The elder women shook her head and sighed, "Then you two need to clean this place up before you can leave for your adventure." She noticed the Pokemon sitting atop Touko's head and turned her attention back to her. "Why isn't yours in its ball dear?"

"He doesn't like it." She looked up at her satisfied otter. "Cheren said some don't and I guess he's one of them."

"Ah yes. I have heard that. Never thought I'd actually see it." She smiled and handed her a watch-like object. "This is a Xtranciever. You can use it to make calls. I have one for Bianca and Cheren too." She handed two other Xtrancievers to the two friends and walked over to open the window. Sighing she looked out of it with a forlorn expression. "You all should get going then. You have a huge adventure ahead of you" She wiped at her eyes trying not to cry." But first go see Professor Juniper and thank her for all of this."

"Of course Mom." Touko ran down her stairs eyes shining in excitement, "Come on guys lets go to the lab!" And after the lab they would finally, finally be off!

Touko ran ahead giggling followed by Bianca and Cheren in the very back. It wasn't a long walk in the slightest and the trio reached the lab in no time.

Gasping in awe at the lab around her, Touko looked around in wonder at all the high tech gadgets and gizmos Bianca shook in place with excitement while Cheren called out for the professor.

"Oh!" One of the automatic doors opened revealing the professor herself, Professor Juniper. She smiled walking toward them, "You three made it."

"Thank you so much for the Pokemon, Professor!" Bianca threw her Pokeball and Tepig popped out. "We're all very happy! Cheren," she elbowed the boy, "Send out Snivy!"

He shook his head and sent out his Snivy. Touko put the hand that wasn't holding her bag to her mouth to shield her laughter, both Cheren and Snivy stood in the exact same pose with their arms crossed looking disinterested. Bianca was right Snivy was the perfect Pokemon for Cheren.

"I see that all of you seem very close to them already. That's great." She turned to Touko, "I'm glad you're okay with Oshawott, as you can see he's not too fond of his ball."

She grinned and waved her hand, "It's fine. At first I found it strange, but if that's what he likes I'm not going to put him in a place he's uncomfortable in." She sighed, "No one wants to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable so I completely understand."

She nodded, "It's great that he has such an considerate trainer. I made the right choice giving them to all of you. Oh! Wait here please." She walked over to the desk and returned with three computer systems "These are Pokedexs. If you three could scan Pokemon you encounter on your journey, that would really help with my research."

The three of them nodded and each took one of the dexs. Touko set it in her handbag.

"Thank you for entrusting us with this task." Cheren returned Snivy to the Pokeball and placed both the dex and the ball into his bag. "We won't let you down Professor."

She laughed, "I know you three will be wonderful. Before I forget, take these too!" Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a bunch of tiny red and white spherical objects. "Use these Pokeballs to capture any wild Pokemon you find." Juniper laughed, "But I'm sure you knew that already. The three of you are very smart trainers after all."

"Thank you Professor…" Touko blushed at the compliment, she wasn't used to praise.

"Well if that's it, I'll let you three go. Remember to take care of yourselves and enjoy your adventure. Best wishes you three!"

Finally! The wind blew through Touko's hair as she ran toward the first route. She was so excited, a Pokemon journey an actual Pokemon journey! There were so many things she could choose from too, should she go for gyms? Pokemon musicals? Something else all together?

"Touko! Wait!"

Interrupting her train of thought she turned to her friend confused, "What's wrong Bianca?"

"I know we plan to go our separate ways but we should all take our first step together! The start of our journey." She grinned, "What do you think?"

Bianca was always so thoughtful and sweet, trying to include all of them in everything. When she first found out that her and Cheren planned to travel separately she was sad at first but bounced right back, agreeing it was the best thing for all of them. "I'm okay with it if Cheren is."

Cheren smiled slightly, "I think that's a great idea, a wonderful way to mark the beginning of our journey."

"Let's join hands!" Bianca reached over and grabbed Touko's hand, "Cheren take Touko's hand too."

He nodded and gripped his friend's hand, "On the count of three."

"One!" Bianca squeaked.

"Two." Cheren counted.

"THREE!" Touko cried as all three of them took their first step. Leaves flew through the air and the sweet scent of flowers carried with the wind. "Let's go!"

In no time at all, Touko had arrived in Accumula town. The walk through the route was short, she didn't see any wild Pokemon, and no one challenged her to a battle. Cheren and Bianca were already probably long gone she took her time enjoying the scenery as the two ran ahead. She was surprised however when she saw her male friend standing in front of the Pokemon Center.

"Cheren?" She ran over to him perplexed, "What are you doing here? I thought you and Bianca would have moved on by now…is she here too?"

"No. Bianca went on ahead." He explained, "I was waiting for you."

"Me? Why?"

"I want to battle you, Touko. To test our skills." He smirked, "How about it?"

Of course it was only fair to give him one since he was waiting for who knew how long. "I'm okay with it but…" She giggled nervously, "I haven't had a battle yet. This would be my first one. That all right?"

"Of course. Everyone has to have his or her first battle at some point, or you won't get stronger. Do you plan to go for the Pokemon League?"

"I don't know…I haven't decided on what I want to do yet. But-" She snapped her fingers, "I know that's what you want to do, right?"

He laughed, "Guilty."

Ever since they heard they would be receiving Pokemon, Cheren was adamant about becoming the Pokemon Champion. If she decided to go for the league Cheren would end up being her toughest rival.

"In that case," she grinned, eyes narrowed in determination, "I accept your challenge."

"Excellent. Snivy!"

He sent out his starter who looked a bit tougher from last time. Cheren must have already started training that's just like him, Touko mussed.

"Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you, Touko." Cheren's expression mirrored his Pokemon's slick smug grin.

"I don't expect you to." She looked up at her Pokemon sitting atop her head and pointed forward, "Oshawott, you're up!"

"Osha." He leapt off her head hand at his shell ready for his trainer's command.

"Tackle!"

As soon as the words left her mouth her vision blurred into something else all together. Touko swallowed, her mouth felt dry. The only thing should could call the scene was indescribable horror. She felt sick and started shaking. W-what is? Voices in her head coming out of nowhere. A scene of smoke and destruction.

In their field Oshawott ran forward but the grass snake was too fast and dodged it. His ears twitched and he looked back at his trainer concerned.

Dizziness started to take hold of her and her chest felt tight. She had a massive headache beginning to form. What was wrong with her?

"Touko?" Cheren looked at his friend concerned, "Are you okay?"

She was unresponsive and started coughing it was getting hard to breathe. Her knees felt weak as they buckled and she fell to the floor gasping for air. Fire. There was fire everywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her body, teeth clenched and eyes watering.

"Touko!" Cheren ran over to his friend. "Touko breathe! What's wrong?!"

"She's having a panic attack it seems."

Cheren turned his head to the new arrival; a male Pokemon trainer, "P-panic attack? What do I-"

"Don't panic yourself, that'll make it worse." He knelt down next to the female as Cheren watched intently. "Miss. You're okay. The battle is over." He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, "Your friend is here with you, everything is normal."

She continued shaking lost in the vision. Someone was talking to her. She tried opening her teary eyes to see the source. It was another trainer. Cheren sat next to him and Oshawott had his paws on her knee.

"How are you feeling?"

"I-I" She stuttered as reality came back to her, that's right she was in a battle and then…she remembered something but now she didn't know what it was. "I think I'm okay." She took another breath and smiled a tiny shaky smile, "Yeah. I'm okay."

"If I could make a suggestion, take off your hat and let your hair down, it'll get rid of any tightness you feel."

She nodded reaching up to take off her hat and ran her hands through her hair letting it fall over her shoulders. At least that made her headache go away.

Cheren breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm r-really sorry Cheren." She moaned still trembling, "I don't know what happened but once I feel better we can finish our battle. Can we move it to somewhere else though?" She swallowed, her stomach still churned; she never had felt so sick.

"We can hold it off as long as you need." He sighed, "I'm relieved Bianca wasn't here for that. She would have made things worse. You know how she tends to overreact."

She nodded still nauseated; "Yeah…that's Bianca for you."

"I don't mean to intrude but I don't believe moving your battle to a different location is going to help." The other trainer gracefully cut into the conversation as Touko laid her head in her lap trying to make the spinning go away.

"Oh?" Cheren looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"The battle was what caused the problem in the first place, I believe."

"Really?" Cheren looked bewildered, "How can a battle cause all of that?" He crossed his arms, "And just who are you?"

"Oh my, how rude. I never introduced myself." He bowed, "My name is Dento and I'm a Pokemon Sommelier. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Pokemon Sommelier? I guess you do know what you're talking about then. I'm Cheren. And over there is Touko."

"Nice to meet both of you~" He smiled graciously and knelt back down to the pale girl. "Touko correct?"

She looked up getting a good look for the first time. He had slight spikey hair of a shade of light green in contrast with his emerald eyes that almost matched his bowtie. He looked like a waiter of some sort. Oh no not food…She leaned forward with a hand on her stomach feeling another wave of nausea. "Y-yes?"

"If you can you should move to a place more comfortable for you, like a center. I doubt this is very comfortable for you."

She nodded and shakily stood up trying to catch her breath, thanking the dragons this happened in front of the Pokemon Center less than a couple steps away.

The three sat in the Pokemon Center as Touko sipped on a cup of tea still shivering slightly. "It's good."

"The tea is made from Pansage's leaves." He explained as his partner Pokemon sat on his shoulder. "It should calm you down. It should also get rid of how sick you feel if the reason you're feeling ill is due to fear like I suspect."

"That's right, Pansage leaves have the ability to calm Pokemon and people. I remember reading something about that." Cheren nodded, "I shouldn't be surprised you did say you were a Pokemon Sommelier after all."

"I actually feel a little better, thanks." She smiled her color starting to return. She felt calmer and less nauseated but she didn't understand how being scared of something could make her so queasy. "Can you cook too?"

"Touko! He's dressed like that because he's a Sommelier. They have a dress code I think." Cheren sighed, "Sorry about her."

"Don't apologize for me Cheren!" Touko crossed her arms and pouted, finally starting to feel like herself again, "Thanks for helping me back there, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

He smiled looking just as relieved as Cheren she was feeling better. "It's my pleasure."

There were so many things on her mind; what just happened to her? How did he know how to deal with it so well? Did she almost die, it almost felt that way. And, "If you don't mind me asking, what is a Pokemon Sommelier?"

Dento opened his mouth to explain but Cheren took over, "They evaluate the relationship between trainers and their Pokemon. Classes are brutal I heard and consists of linguistics, psychology on both trainers and Pokemon, bonding, presentation and more. You know you should really read more Touko."

"Not everyone is a nerd like you Cheren," she growled. "Besides I wanted to hear about _Dento's_ profession from _Dento_." Sighing she shook her head, "Back there you said the battle was the problem right? But then that means-"

"Touko that can't be the issue." Cheren adjusted his glasses "I've never heard of anything like that before. Something frightened you and it's unrelated to the match."

"Nor have I." Dento explained, "But my theory is the location isn't the ingredient creating the unfavorable dish, the battle is."

"It doesn't make sense! Why would a battle cause her, or anyone to react like that?" Cheren exclaimed bewildered, "Is it like stage fright?

"Sort of." Dento waved his finger. "An unhealthy marriage is created by putting the wrong spice on a dish, similar to an unhealthy reaction created by a someone with severe trauma participating in Pokemon battles."

"Trauma?" Touko blinked and looked down at her knees, a little scraped from falling forward earlier. Any trauma she had would have come from what just happened not before it.

"Touko doesn't have any trauma though." Cheren tapped his foot. "Do you?"

"No!" She squeaked, "I've had a great life, nothing traumatic has ever happened to me." Unless she counted her parents divorce when she was younger, but she could barely remember anything about that. She doubted the two subjects were even related.

"Odd." Dento put a finger to his chin lost in thought, "What happened back there was definitely the taste of post traumatic stress. It is possible it's a repressed memory however… "

"Touko doesn't have PTSD." Cheren chuckled, "But…I do see what you are getting at. What reason would she have to panic like that just over a Pokemon battle of all things?

"It was my first battle, everyone gets frightened during their first match right?"

"That wasn't normal nervousness, he has a point."

She knew that of course, but she wanted to try to justify it for as long as she could. Accepting it would mean there was something seriously wrong with her.

"It looked like a flashback. Did you see anything during your battle that stood out, Touko?"

See anything? She felt like she did see something but whatever it was had left no trace in her mind. She shook her head, "No…I don't even know if I saw something or not."

"How can you not know!?"

"I just don't Cheren!"

Dento nodded continuing his slight interrogation "How about sound? Did you hear anything when you zoned out?"

"I can't remember…" she looked down sadly, "It's weird it's like it never happened."

"But you looked like you were lost in thought." Cheren argued, "Like you were remembering something…"

Something red or was it orange? And then voice of something but…"I wasn't!" She scratched at her head in frustration, "Or was I? I don't know!" He wasn't helping!

"Relax, relax Touko. It isn't worth stressing yourself out over."

"But-"

"He's right." Cheren sat up and adjusted his bag.

Like he was one to talk, she scoffed, he was the one stressing her out in the first place!

"But if it is some sort of trauma hidden or not, you need to try to face it. I think you should keep trying to battle. There's a gym in Striaton City. Why don't you head there?"

Cheren. Never be a psychologist. She almost fainted from a battle and now he was telling her to go battle.

"I don't think a gym is a good idea, going into a gym battle cold has a very chilling flavor as it is. If there is something going on, taking a risk such as that would magnify the effect." The other trainer countered.

At least someone was making sense. Wait worse?! "It could be worse?!" She shivered feeling slightly ill thinking about what had just occurred, "I don't want to go through that again."

"I didn't mean go to the gym first, that's suicide." Cheren glared at the sommelier almost offended he would think something like that, "Battle with Pokemon and trainers if you can. Take it slow. Then Touko, you should try the gym. I think that is the best path for you."

He didn't understand, no one could. "But now I'm scared, what if it happens again?! Maybe I should just go back home…" She couldn't remember anything that happened but she certainly remembered how she felt and she knew she never wanted to feel it ever again. It was like she just shut down.

"Don't give up! You'll get through it. I believe in you." He held out a hand, "I know you can do it and I bet Bianca feels the same way."

"You aren't going to tell Bianca about this are you?"

"Don't worry." Cheren grinned, "I promise I won't say a word."

Maybe he was right; maybe she would end up okay. A tiny smile made its way onto her face, "Thanks Cheren." She stood up and shoved him lightly on his shoulder, "You should get going though, you're wasting time sitting here with me. You have a dream to obtain right?"

"Yes but-"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine on my own!"

"Are you sure?" Cheren looked at his friend warily, "You're not just saying that are you?"

"Of course not! Go go!" She laughed winking, "Stop worrying okay?"

"All right." He reached for his handbag and slung it over his shoulder. "Good luck then. Call me when you feel up to battling. Or if you ever want to talk or need advice, I'll be here. I'll see you around."

Once he was gone Touko collapsed in the booth, laid her head on the table, and groaned. That was close he had almost seen through her lie.

"Any reason why you lied to your friend who was clearly concerned?"

She sat up in a flash, her hair bouncing back and forth "I didn't lie!

With a raised eyebrow his expression showed he wasn't convinced in the slightest. But he let it go moving onto another topic of conversation, "What do you plan to do from here Touko?"

She thought for sure he'd try to figure out why she was lying but the fact he let it go so fast was refreshing. "I wanted to travel, Striaton City sounds nice. But if I'm like this, where battling is really important and necessary for survival wouldn't it just be better for me to go back home?" She took another sip of her tea, the mug warm on her shaky hands.

Nodding he seemed to agree with her, "But is that what you want?"

No. No it wasn't. She wanted to travel, to see the region! And just a couple of hours ago she would stop at nothing to make that happen. Would she really let fear get in the way of that? "Well. I want to go to Striaton City, I want to continue my journey but…" She sighed. She wished she were traveling with her friends. They agreed it was for the best that they split up but now the last thing she wanted was to travel alone. Actually…

"Then travel to Striaton."

He was a good listener she thought, and kind. Not to mention he was able to deal with her anxiety better than Cheren did. Maybe she could convince him to travel with her for a little while, he certainty seemed nice enough.

"If that's what you want to do, don't let what just happened stop you. I was just heading there actually."

"Really?!" Before she could stop herself she reached over, grabbed his hands and exclaimed, "Can I come with you, please? I'm still a little- "

"Shaken?" Smiling he nodded, "I was going to ask if you would like to accompany me."

"Yes!" She let go and let out a sigh of relief; that was easier than she thought it would be. At least she had a partner to travel with for a little bit now, what if she was challenged to a battle and broke down again? With someone else with her she'd be able to get through it. "How far is it from here?"

"Not far at all, only a couple hours at the most." He pulled a blue handheld electronic map, "See?" Pulling up the screen he pointed to various locations. "Striaton City is right here, just past the Battle Club."

"Battle Club? Doesn't sound like something I could ever do…it has battle in the title." She ran her hands through her hair and groaned, "This wasn't supposed to happen! I've watched battles my whole life and have always been excited to try one myself, why would I react like that?"

"It could be something to do with you participating in them instead of watching them. It may not seem like it but there is a major difference."

"I guess…I just feel so pathetic and weak." Everyone was ahead of her in skill now. She doubted she could ever catch up.

"Maybe you should try the Battle Club then." He suggested, "The owner there is the expertise when it comes to anything about the art of Pokemon battling. Perhaps he could suggest some tips for dealing with something like this."

"I don't know, you're being nice enough to let me travel with you as it is. I don't want to delay you getting to your destination." She looked down sadly and gripped at her jean shorts in frustration, "I don't want to cause you to arrive later than intended."

"I'm not on any time frame, take as long as you need. Striaton is my home."

"Oh?" She looked at him in confusion, "Why did you leave?"

He rubbed the back of his head with his hand, "My brother is pretty hot headed. He got in a fight with my other brother and left. I went after him."

"He ran all the way to a different _town?!_" Her eyes widened with shock. Sure it was only a couple of hours away but that's still traveling a couple of hours away from home unplanned!

"That's Pod for you. When he's upset he's able to travel quite far."

Touko sat up slamming her hands on the table, "Then what are you doing talking here with me, shouldn't you go find him?! "

He laughed, "Don't worry I did find him. We were on our way back when I saw your battle, told him to go ahead and ran over to help."

Her face reddened in embarrassment from her outburst, "Oh. Sorry."

"No need to apologize."

"Well I still think we should get going." The brunette finished her last sips of tea, put her hair back into a ponytail and reached for her hat. But her hat wasn't where she thought it was, "That's weird…" She rummaged through her bag and still couldn't find it, "Where did it go?" She paused looking around the center, "And now that I think about it…where is Oshawott?"

"Pansage!" The grass monkey leapt off his trainer's shoulder and motioned to the area behind the booth Touko currently sat in. Oshawott peaked out behind the cap holding it in front of him for protection.

"Oshawott," She stood up and walked over to him, "What are you doing, come here."

"Sha!" He shook his head trembling still clutching the hat.

"Os-ha-wott. Look I'm okay now, 100%~" She put her hands on her hips leaned forward, "Now. What is wrong with you?"

The sommelier snapped his fingers, "He's very shy and timid; it must take him a while to warm up to others. He's a perfect match for you."

She crossed her arms, "He's afraid of other people yet he refuses to be in his own Pokeball." She rolled her eyes, her tone laced with sarcasm, "Oh yeah, that makes sense."

"Well, he seems to be quite fond of you, I can tell even though the two of you just became partners you have a very close bond." He sat down on the ground and pulled something out of his backpack. "Here give him this. Try to coax him out gently."

He handed her what looked to be a container of homemade Pokemon food.

"To answer your question from earlier yes I do cook." He put a hand on his chest, grinned and boasted, "I'm a chef sommelier~"

"Chef sommelier?" Was that different from a Pokemon sommelier? Nevermind she couldn't dwell on that now; there was enough on her mind already. "Oshawoooot~" She chirped kneeling down on the floor, "Come here little guy." Placing some of the food in the palm of her hand, she held it out hoping the food would entice him.

He sniffed the air, dropped the hat and ran forward stuffing his face with the food. He was hungrier than she thought.

"Sha~" He looked up at her chirping happily.

"Thank him." She motioned to Dento with her head as she grabbed her hat. "It's his not mine."

"Osha?" He sniffed cautiously and approached the other trainer. Once he decided it was safe he nuzzled his hand.

"He's very healthy. His coat is extraordinarily soft, silky and shiny. You've taken good care of him."

She placed the hat on her head and blushed, "Well uh…I got him from Professor Juniper. You should give the credit to her not me."

Oshawott ran over to her and leapt onto her shoulder happily.

"What did you mean about us being good match?" She stood up picking up her bag. "I'm curious."

"Well." He stood back up and dusted off his pants, "With your clear fear of battling mixed with his shyness both of you have it rougher than most trainers in your position. The two similar flavors create a disastrous marriage. But-" He snapped his fingers as the tone of his voice rose in pitch and fervor almost like a song. "Once you grow and overcome it, your ability will fully ripen allowing your true self to shine!~"

Touko giggled to herself, he was silly. But he had a point. "All right!" She clenched her fists in determination. And turned toward him, "In that case, I _do_ want to go to the Battle Club. Maybe there is something there that can help me." She looked toward her Pokémon, "What do you think?"

"Osha!" He chirped in determination and agreement.

"In that case, we'll head out when you're rea-"

"Now!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, "We're leaving now!"

Dragging along her new friend with blazing blue eyes, she ran into the next route ignoring everything around her. Her journey certainty wasn't like she thought it would be, but she'd do whatever it took to overcome this battle thing. She hoped this Battle Club would have an easy solution to her problem.


	2. Systematic Battler Desensitization

The giant building loomed overhead in the distance as Touko followed by her new friend Dento, continued forward, her stride slowing. When she arrived at the Battle Club she let go of his hand and gasped in awe.

"It almost looks like a fitness center I've seen on TV…" She looked on in wonder.

"That's a good comparison." Dento nodded, "It's sort of like that. While trainers have battles with each other in these places, there's also training facilities for improving certain stats like defense or agility. It also has a pool I believe."

She giggled, "Then it's like a fitness center for Pokémon!" She looked at her partner on her shoulder and wondered if he'd be interested in the swimming pool since he was a water type and all. Walking up to the door she placed her hand on the knob but paused. What if this just made things worse? What if it didn't work at all?

"Touko?" Dento placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you all right?"

She forced a smile, "I'm okay. I'm just worried slightly is all…" She trailed off, ashamed she even had those thoughts.

"You're worried this isn't going to help you and might make things worse, am I correct?"

She turned back behind him and started, "How did you—"

He smirked and put a hand on his chest, "I'm a Pokémon Sommelier, I'm trained to read both people and Pokémon."

She bit her lip. That meant he'd always tell if she was lying, huh? Great. Not like she was good at lying in the first place. She always thought honestly and truthfulness was the best policy but…sometimes she did have a tendency to hide what she was feeling; can't do that anymore.

He continued to be able to read her expression, almost reading her mind, "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with wanting to hide how you feel. If you don't want to talk about it I won't force you. But—"he placed a hand on the door frame, "You came all the way here, don't you at least want to go in and check it out?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "Sorry…I didn't mean to space out on you. After all I won't know until I try right?" Taking a deep breath she pushed open the doors only to be greeted by a large and very well built man.

"Welcome to the Battle Club!" His voice was booming, echoing through the building. "I'm Don George the owner of this establishment."

Oshawott freaked out and tried to run away but Touko held him still. "Oshawott, no! It's okay."

The man laughed scaring the little otter even further, "Well now, there's no need to be afraid little one."

"This wouldn't be a problem if you weren't afraid of your Pokéball you know." She snickered as her Pokémon glared at her.

"How can I help the two of you?" Don George continued. "Would you like to be placed in a battle with one of our club members? Perhaps allow you and your Pokémon be placed in one of our trainer facilities for some training?"

"No…" Touko suddenly felt really nervous, how was she going to explain to her issue, it was pretty silly wasn't it? "Actually um…you said you were the head of this place?"

"That is correct Miss. What can I do for you?"

"Well…um…" She looked down at her feet.; maybe this was a bad idea…

"We were hoping you could tell us anything about battle phobia. If you know anything of course~"

Touko crossed her arms and sighed, she was so jealous of how smooth he was. How could he be so darn confident?

"Oh? Yes I do. It's very rare but I have dealt with some trainers and their fear of battling. Why do you ask?"

"Do you know the best way to deal with it? Or—" He snapped his fingers, "What they can do to get more comfortable with the concept of Pokémon Battles?"

"Well." He crossed his arms, "When we've had people with that issue here before, the best thing to do is exposure. Start out slow but battle battle battle."

"THAT'S WHAT I HAVE TO DO?!" She sighed and collapsed on the floor, "How can I battle if I panic like that…it's over for me."

"We usually have battle phobic trainers take permanent residence in one of our facilities and slowly battle." Don George explained, "It is a long process but it has worked the couple of times I've encountered it."

"But I want to travel!" Touko whined, "Why does this have to happen to me?"

"Is it possible for them to travel?" Dento questioned, "As long as they do occasionally battle, I would think they could."

"I've never heard of anyone battle afraid traveling, but I would imagine if they have someone to make sure they expose themselves to battles it would work the same way." He made a fist, happy tears streaming down his face, mustache quivering, "But they have to be willing to work with the positives and negatives as well as be very disciplined!"

Touko gulped, he was very passionate about battles, wasn't he? It was pretty intimidating… At least now she knew what she needed to do but it certainly wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Out of the way, out of the way out of the way!"

The brunette turned her head to the new arrival. That sounded a lot like—

She squeaked as she was pushed to the side forcefully and held out her hands for protection. The impact sent her flying, causing her to crash into her current traveling companion and sent them both to the floor. Touko's head landed on Dento's chest and her braced hands ended up on his shoulders. He groaned, dazed muttering something about a potent taste but she was too flabbergasted from having the wind knocked out of her, to think about what was happening.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The culprit clasped her hands together and hung her head, "I couldn't stop!"

Touko groaned and pulled herself up, "Bianca…" Her best friend was still as klutzy as ever.

"Touko!" The bubbly blonde whipped around, "Touko is that you?!"

"Sorry…" Her face burned in embarrassment from her current predicament as she scrambled to her feet, "You aren't hurt are you?"

She knew Bianca was going to get ideas from the former position of being on top of her new friend almost face to face, but if she didn't draw attention to it, maybe the blonde wouldn't notice.

"Perfectly fine." He held out a hand to help her up, "Yourself?"

"I'm fine. But Oshawott…" She grabbed it and was able to steady herself back on her feet.

"In your bag."

"Sha!" Oshawott bundled up in Touko's bag shaking and probably a bit traumatized from being slammed into by the girl whose loudness freaked him out since the beginning.

"It's all right Oshawott." She reached her hand into the bag and gave his ears a scratch, "It's okay."

"Osha…"

"It is you!" Bianca ran over and latched onto her friend throwing an arm around her neck and knocking Dento out of the way in the process. "How are you?! I thought for sure you'd be ahead of me."

"Doing okay. And you?"

As long as she didn't mention the battle thing she could at least pretend she was normal.

"I'm great!" She narrowed her eyes and snickered, "So who's your _friend _Touko? Is this why you wanted to travel alone huuuuuuh?"

"No Bianca." She rolled her eyes. She knew this was coming. "We just met and happen to be heading to the same location. And you know fully well we all decided to travel separately."

She giggled, "Yes. But I had no idea you'd be traveling with someone so _handsome_."

"Bianca…"

She let go and ran over to Dento, "Hello! I'm Bianca." She grinned, "Any friend of Touko's is a friend of mine!"

"Pleased to meet you Bianca~" He bowed.

She ran back to Touko laughing, "And so _formal_~"

"Yeah yeah." She narrowed her own eyes, "Stop it."

"Okay~" She laughed at her friend's expression. "Anyway…hey, Touko! How about a battle?" Bianca giggled, "I haven't been able to battle you yet!"

"Um…true but…"She really didn't want to explain why she couldn't battle her…

"Excellent! I can set you up over in this location."

Don George placed his large palms on the shoulders of the two girls and pushed them over to a field as Bianca looked on excitedly and Touko attempted to get away. Dento followed the three.

"I suggest a one on one match. Let's see the fire in your heart and the passion of your Pokémon!" Don George looked like he could cry again.

Wow he _was_ really passionate about battles. Touko gulped.

"You can do this, Touko." Dento sat behind her smiling, "Just take it slow. The minute you feel uncomfortable say something okay?"

She smiled, he was really sweet. "Having you here makes me feel a bit better actually. Thank you." She felt calm now but she didn't start the battle yet either. "Okay Oshawott, let's try this again!"

Oshawott leapt into the field ready to go but keeping an eye on his trainer too. He was worried about her.

"Let's go Tepig!" Bianca flailed her arms and sent her Pokéball flying the little pig stomping at the ground and snorting flames.

"Tackle, Tepig!"

"Te pi!" It ran forward towards the otter, its hooves clicking on the ground.

"Dodge it!"

Oshawott moved out of the way, Touko swallowed, "Tackle back!"

He moved to tackle but his scalchop started to glow as he did it. "Osha?"

"Oh!" Dento exclaimed, "Looks like it's learning Razor Shell. Try it."

Touko nodded taking a deep breath. She was okay. She could do this. "Razor Shell!"

Oshawott reached for his glowing scalchop and it elongated turning into a sword. He leapt into the air preparing to strike.

"Counter it with Ember Tepig!"

Before he could collide with the pig, Tepig snorted and little embers of fire flew everywhere.

"Oshawott use…" The faint feeling returned, as her chest felt tight. Should she go on? She did last longer in the battle this time but…she began to shake as the scene warped into something else. Bianca was gone, replaced by fallen rubble. Reaching for her head with her hands she sunk to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. "I-can't…"

"Stop the match!" Dento called out, "Her capacity has gone beyond its limits."

Don George threw his arms down, "This match is, unfortunately over. The trainer can no longer continue."

"Osha!" Oshawott ran to his trainer in concern and patted her knee with his paw, "Osha?"

"Battle's over Touko." Dento knelt down next to her, "You lasted slightly longer this time, that's good taste."

Bianca watched the scene unfold with a puzzled expression that mirrored Tepig. "Touko?"

She stopped shivering and opened her eyes. Still feeling slightly sick she wrapped her arms around her body, teeth chattering. "I-I'm okay." More deep breaths. "That wasn't as bad as last time but, I'm just gonna sit here for a bit."

Dento nodded, "You did well."

"Yeah?" She giggled nervously, "It doesn't seem that great."

"If you recall last time you couldn't even order one attack. You've already made quite an improvement."

He had a point. It probably didn't look like much for a normal person but she did last a little longer. Her recovery time felt better too.

"Touko!" Bianca ran over in concern, "DidIdosomethingtoyou?! Areyouallright?!" She spoke far too fast making Touko's headache worse.

"What?" She squinted trying to figure her friend out but her head was spinning.

"OhamItalkingtoofastagain?! Sorry!"

Touko groaned. Bianca was making it worse and she didn't know if Bianca's speed was worse than Cheren pretending he knew everything or not. Please. Just shut up.

Dento could sense the issue, "Stay calm for a second Bianca, you're making her nervous."

The bubbly blonde nodded and twitched in place as Touko slowly went back to normal.

"I'm fine now." Touko stood up Oshawott clinging to her shoulder, "What were you saying Bianca?"

"Touko!" Bianca leapt forward and hugged her friend for dear life, "I was so worried about you! Whatever I did I'm so so sorry!"

"It's not you…" The brunette muttered into Bianca's chest, her grip was too strong. "It's me."

She let go her, forest green eyes clouded in concern, "What do you mean?"

"I have a phobia of Pokémon battles." She looked down at her feet, so much for not telling Bianca. "I really…do have a fear of Pokémon battles." She whispered to herself.

Part of her hoped that what happened with Cheren was a fluke and she would have been fine moving forward but it was clear now that wasn't the case. She did have the phobia and she needed to learn how to deal with it.

"Touko…"

"But that's okay!" She smiled sadly, "I'm slowly leaning how to adapt to it, there's no need to worry about me okay."

Bianca nodded. "You're amazing Touko!" Holding out a Pokéball and returning her Tepig she smiled a sweet little grin, "I don't think I could ever deal with that."

"Don George." She grabbed her bag, "You said I need to expose myself to battles little by little, correct?"

"That is correct. However I do recommend not traveling alone." He held out a device in his palm. "You need a partner. Someone to watch your progress. This timer can be used to calculate how long you're in a battle."

"A timer?"

He nodded, "By continued exposure you should see your battle participation time increase. What we've found from others with your problem is the more battles they participate in, the easier it is for them to battle. Eventually to the point where they can hold on for just long enough to finish the match. They still don't like battling and they still slightly fear it, but they don't suffer the attacks as frequently."

"That would be nice." She took the timer and put it in her bag, "Do you have any suggestions for a mentor?"

Shaking his head he turned away with his arms crossed behind his back, "That's up to you. You need to find someone you're comfortable with and who's willing to work with you through this time consuming and difficult process." He turned back, "However. It does seem like you have someone like that with you currently."

She knew who Don George was referring to and he was right, but he was only a traveling partner until Striaton which was just over the horizon now. She couldn't trouble him like that.

Oshawott leapt off her shoulder and walked over to Dento, "Osha?" He tapped the sommelier's leg with his paw and pointed at his own trainer. "Oshawo!"

"Touko." He smiled, "Would you like me to help you out?"

"I can't ask you to do that! You'll be home soon," she bit her lip. "And I'm troubling you enough as it is!"

He laughed, "You aren't troubling me in the slightest. Besides, you interest me~"

"I…do?"

He nodded, "Both you and Oshawott have to decant but I sense very powerful potential as I told you earlier. And it's very inspiring to see you want to work so hard to fight this. I'm a little jealous actually."

She blinked, "You are? Trust me you have nothing to be jealous of. I'm envious how you can be so…" Calm? Suave? She couldn't think of the word but he certainly was a character.

"You're willing to face your fear, that's…" he scratched his head, "Not a flavor I'm very comfortable with."

"You're afraid of something? What?"

"Err, I'd rather not talk about it."

She giggled, "Fair enough." She pulled the computerized timer out of her bag and held it out, "Then Dento. Would you travel with me and be like my mentor?"

He took the timer from her, "It'd be my pleasure."

"That's wonderful." Don George grinned, "I recommend checking out the next Battle Club near Nimbasa City. I bet you'll see then just how much you've improved from now."

"Okay, I will." She smiled and Oshawott leapt back onto her hat; his job was done. "First though, I need to prepare myself for my upcoming gym match…"

"Ooh you might run into to Cheren!" Bianca exclaimed, "If you see him tell him hi for me!" She ran over and gave her friend another tight hug, "And I'm totally jealous you're traveling with such a cute guy," She whispered as a blush spread through Touko's features.

"It's not like that Bianca, let it go," she snapped.

Bianca giggled and waved, "I'll see you around Touko, Dento! Bye!" She ran off at speeds only possible for Bianca herself.

"We should get going too."

Touko nodded, "Thanks for everything, Don George!"

"Good luck!" He waved, "I wish you the best!"

—-

Touko was actually really glad she checked that place out. She learned more about herself, gained a permanent travel partner and had a way to deal with her fear. The area they were in now was a very thick forest and some of the trees held various types of fruit.

"Hey Dento?" She turned to her friend, mapping out their destination.

"Hmm?"

"Well, you said Striaton City is your hometown, do you know anything about the Gym Leader there?"

She swore she saw him flinch slightly but before she could comment on that he answered her question. "There are three of them."

"Three?!"

"One has a water type, one has a fire type and one has a grass type. You battle the type you'd be weak against." He explained.

"Then since I have Oshawott, I'd battle the grass type one…can I train with your Pansage a little bit? I mean they aren't going to be long matches considering this fear but I had no idea it was a clear type disadvantage I'd be dealing with." She gulped, "I'm nervous."

"I'd be happy to." He smiled, "And I'm sure you'll be fine, just remember to relax."

Before she could respond a cascade of something fell from the sky landing on both of them. "Ugh…" She groaned and tried to dig her way out. "Apples?"

"Sorry!" A young female voiced resounded through the forest. "Didn't see you there!"

A young girl leapt out from the tree with large brown eyes and the most amount of hair Touko had even seen flowed down her back in a ponytail, with spiky pigtails from the top all in a shade of dark purple. Her hair was larger than she was!

Dento dug himself out followed by Oshawott as Touko just stared at the girl in awe. How could she be real? That hair.

"Oh my gosh! It's so cute!" She leapt down, picked up and cuddled Oshawott, nuzzling him to her face, "You're adorable!

Oshawott was panicking and not happy with being cuddled by a stranger. He struggled aiming a water gun straight at her face soaking and surprising her enough to drop him. He ran for his trainer and leapt into her bag.

"Sorry about him, he doesn't like people." She giggled, the girl's hair looked even larger when wet. "Are you all right?"

"Yup! We're fine."

She blinked, "We're?"

"Axew!" A tiny tusked dragon popped out of her hair and shook his body, trying to remove the wetness.

"Is that sanitary?" Touko whispered and looked at her traveling companion in a mix of disgust and horror.

Dento shrugged his shoulders but he looked just as surprised as Touko did. However he was able to compose himself and walked over to them two of them, studying the young dragon, "Skin as fresh as young grass, fangs that make me think of buds, engender invigoration and an unlimited future. It's a very suitable partner for someone with a natural air such as yourself."

Touko snickered; yeah nothing says being one with nature like having a Pokémon in your hair.

"Oh really? Thank you! Are you a Pokémon Sommelier?"

He nodded, "I'm Dento and over there is Touko."

"I'm Iris! It's nice to meet you both."

Touko really wanted to say something but she couldn't get over that hair. It was like a giant balloon or something.

Meanwhile Oshawott moved out of the bag and tried to get himself into Touko's ponytail.

"Oshawott! No! Stop!" She reached up at her hair trying to catch her partner, "You won't fit and you're tangling it! Get out!"

Finally she was able to grab him, "No. If you must hide, stay in my bag." She sniffled and set him down, running her hands through her locks trying to fix the tangles he created while trying not to cry.

Iris laughed, "I should be asking if you're okay."

She sighed, "I've been better…nice to meet you Iris…"

"Looks like he was inspired by Axew. Not that I blame him, right?" She grinned at her Pokémon and held out an apple.

"But how?!" Touko couldn't hold it anymore, "Your hair…"

"Oh?" She snickered, "You wouldn't be able to comprehend this aggressive hair style I'm sure." As she said this she flipped it to make her point.

"Aggressive is…one word for it."

"Besides talking about my hair when yours is similar?" Iris pointed at Touko's ponytail, "That's so childish~"

"Ch-childish?" She blushed slightly, "I always thought my hair was thick yes but it's nothing like yours. I've never seen such volume and you keep a Pokémon in it!" She put a hand to her mouth to hold in a fit of giggles, "Sorry! I didn't expect it. Then again I didn't expect to be so fearful of Pokémon battles either, this journey has been full of surprises." She sat down on the ground, "Nothing like I expected."

"You're afraid of Pokémon battles?" She tilted her head. "But how do you expect to continue on?"

"Dento's helping me. And according to the Battle Club the best thing to do is constantly battle so that's what I have to do."

Iris sat down and put a hand to her chin, "It is interesting that you're scared of battling when Unova was founded on Pokémon battling."

"It was?"

"Oh, you don't know?"

"If I recall it was the battle of truth and ideals." Dento smiled, "I don't know much about it though."

"Yup!" Iris grinned, "A battle between the two dragon Pokémon that are called legendary, Reshiram and Zekrom."

"Reshiram and Zekrom…" Touko closed her eyes, "For some reason the names sound familiar. Especially…Reshiram, the dragon of…truth right?"

She could see it clearly. Standing there its fluffy white mane blowing through the wind, icy blue eyes that bored into her very soul.

"I thought you said you didn't know?" She looked at her new friend wide eyed, "You okay, you're really pale…"

"Yeah. I'm fine just…" She shook her head. "That was weird."

"I think you were having a vision!" She gasped, "Have you met Reshiram before?!"

"No, no!" She waved her hands, "I must have seen a picture of it before, or heard Cheren talk about it."

"Reshiram and Zekrom…"She squealed, eyes sparkling in delight not even listening to the other girl, "I want to meet them!"

"Is that your dream?" Touko sighed, "That sounds nice…"

"That and becoming the champion!" She leapt up and down, "Someday, I know I'll be strong enough to do so. Right Axew?"

"Yuu!"

"That's great, I'm sure you can do it." She looked down at her hands, "My dream is…just to deal with this fear currently."

"And you're making great progress." Dento cut in, "Don't look down on yourself."

"Yeah…" She forced a smile, "Yeah, you're right! I am making progress."

"Hey Touko, are you going to challenge the gym in Striaton?" Iris grinned, "Gym Battles would probably help a lot. And then there are special Don Battles held all around the region, hosted by Don George himself."

"I'm planning on battling the gym yes." She nodded, "I'm scared though."

"I'll cheer you on!" Iris leaned forward smiling brightly, "The spirits tell me you're special, and I'm really curious how a person who's afraid of battling does it."

"Well it's not easy. Wait." She blinked, "Spirits?"

As in ghosts? The deceased? Was she some sort of spirit medium?

"Trust me, the spirits have never lied to me before." She walked forward nose upturned, "Well? Striaton is just over this hill, let's go!"

"I'll admit you have a special flavor about you—"Dento shook his head following after the younger girl, "But there is no such thing as spirits."

"Oh really?" Iris put her hands on her hips, "And what makes you so sure?"

He smirked, "Science. There's no evidence of spirits."

"Of course there is! You just aren't looking for it."

"And just what is it?" His expression changed to something almost haughty, "_I _don't believe in anything where there is no proof."

"Well I doubt they'd show themselves to someone like you anyway!"

"Axew!"

Touko sighed. Was this really happening now? "Guys…"

"That has nothing to do with it. Science should be able to determine whether something of that nature is real or not."

"Science isn't everything! Ugh people like you are such a pain."

"Pain?!" Dento looked like he'd been shot, talk about over dramatic.

"H-hey let's just agree to disagree, and talk about something else."

It suddenly hit her that she never liked arguments between people either, no wonder she was fearful of Pokémon fighting.

"Refusing to pick a side because you don't want to get involved, so childish~"

She groaned and placed a palm on her face. Striaton may have been just over the hill but getting there was going to feel like an eternity.


End file.
